Classifying-index with movable tablets carrying cards.



L. E. F. DAVID. v GLASSIFYING mnnx WITH MOVABLE TABLETS CARRYING (mans.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1910. 1,005,614. Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

2sHBMssHnnT 1.

Zflizezssea X Even/$07 auwlifflava'd W may COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH 60.. WASHINGTON, D c.

L. E. F.. DAVID. GLASSIPYING INDEX WITH MOVABLE TABLETS CARRYING 011mm.

APPLIOATION FILED SEPT. 28, 1910.

Patented 0111;. 10, 1911.

i m v\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\ ln R JHHH 1 -772 we]; Zar ub'd' @Qjinay LOUIS ETIENNE FRANCOIS DAVID, OF PARIS, FRANCE.

CLASSIFYING-INDEX WITH MOVABLE TABLETS CARRYING CARDS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 10, 1911.

Application filed September 28, 1910. Serial No. 584,356.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, LOUIS ETIENNE FRANgoIs DAVID, citizen of the French Republic, residing at Paris, Department of the Seine, in France, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Classifying-Indexes wit-h Movable Tablets Carrying Cards, of which the following is a specifi cation.

The invention has for its object to provide an improved classifying index having movable tablets provided with cards.

The interior arrangement of the apparatus permit-s of the following operations being readily effected: 1. Changing at will the order of the cards. 2. Concealing them all at once in the apparatus. 3. Causing any one of the cards to appear at will. 4. Keeping in view the desired card for as long as required, the apparatus being meanwhile left undisturbed. 5. Indicating in a clear and obvious manner at first sight the card which it is desired to keep in view. For example, if the information inscribed on the cards consists of the names of subscribers to the telephone with their numbers, by displacing the cards on the tablets, the apparatus allows additional names to be inserted, at the same time keeping all the names inscribed in strict alphabetical order. It also allows all the names inscribed to be hidden at the same time. It permits of any name with its number to be instantly made visible. It allows this name to remain in view as long as desired without touching the apparatus. The name thus kept in view is placed in such a manner that it is suficient to glance at the apparatus in order to see it immediately, without hesitation and without having to look for it among other names as is the case when consulting an ordinary file of cards.

In the accompanying drawings: Figure 1 is a vertical section of an index constructed in accordance with the invention in which the tablets are arranged vertically. Fig. 2 is a view in plan. Fig. 3 is a section on the line AA of Fig. 1. Fig. 4 shows a modifiecl construction, the index comprising in this case, two sets of tablets arranged side by side. Fig. 5 shows a modification in "which the tablets are arranged horizontally. Fig. 6 represents a method of securing the cards on the tablets. Figs. 7 and 8 are respectively a view in elevation and a side view of an arrangement in which the tablets are provided with indexes laterally displaced with reference to one another.

1 indicates tablets having cards 2 which are fixed thereto in some suitable way but in such a manner that they can be moved. For example, these cards may be slid in grooves or under straps carried by the tablets or they may be secured by means of movable or fixed pins.

The tablets 1 are extended at one side of their bases to produce the lateral projections 8. On the same side the longitudinal edge of each tablet is inclined or curved at 4 in such a manner that the upper part of the tablet is narrower than the middle portion. A notch 7 which may be replaced by a button or other device, enables the tablets in the apparatus to be grasped. In Figs. 1, 2, 3, 4, all the tablets 1 are alike but they may be of different heights.

The tablets 1 are place one in front of the other in a box 8 and when the cards are all hidden, rest on a stepped support 9, each step supporting a tablet 1. If the tablets 1 are of different lengths the support may be omitted. In every case the arrangement of the tablets 1 and the support 9 or of the tablets 1 and the bottom of the box is such that, when the tablets 1 are sunk as far as possible in the box 8, the upper edge of each tablet is higher than that of the tablet placed immediately in front of it. Consequently there is at the upper part of each tablet a portion which always remains visible and on which reference letters may be inscribed which are thus always visible.

The tablets 1 slide in grooves 10 in the cheeks 11 and 12 placed on the right and left of the tablets 1 in the box 8. The tablets 1 are thus kept parallel to one another. A spring 13 of any suitable shape constantly presses the check 11 against the tablets 1 and the tablets 1 against the cheek 12. A projection 14 is formed integral with the wall 15 of the box 8. This projection 14 is arranged in proximity to the curved portion 4 of the tablets 1 when the latter occupy their lowermost position. By reason of this arrangement, when any one of-the tablets 1 is moved upward to bring into view the cards it carries, the effect of such movement is to bring the middle part of the tablet 1 to the height of the projection 14. As this part is larger than the upper part of the other tablets 1, the movement of the displaced tablet results in removing the cheek 11 away from the cheek 12. In this position the spring no longer presses against any but the tablet 1 which has been moved to the exclusion of the other tablets 1. This pressure, exercised by the spring on the displaced tablet 1, results in keeping that tablet in the position in which it is left.

If the tablets 1 are provided with cards carrying information, for example names or numbers grouped under indicating references, it is sufficient to vertically move the tablet indicated by the corresponding reference to cause a series of cards to appear among which is the one required: By then bringing the displaced tablet 1 into a position in which the required card is underlined by the upper edge of the tablet placed immediately in front of it or by the edge of the box the required card will thus be clearly indicated and it will be suflicient to look at the apparatus to at once see it without the glance wandering among the various cards visible on the displaced tablet.

The shape of the tablets may be modified, the free or outer end remaining always the narrowest. The movable tablets 1 may be divided into two or more series placed side by side. For example Fig. 4 shows a box 8 containing two series of tablets 1.

In Fig. 5 the tablets 1 are horizontal and not vertical as in the preceding examples. The box 8 is itself horizontal and the tablets 1 are withdrawn horizontally to get them out of the box 8 and cause the cards bearing the names and numbers to appear. The indexes of the tablets are left in view, as in the preceding examples, by placing them near the edge of the tablet next above or near the edge of the box 8. The box 8, instead of being placed horizontally as in Fig.

5 may also be placed obliquely with any desired inclination.

Fig. 6 shows a method of securing the cards 2 on a tablet 1. The holes 22 are pierced in the tablet 1 in such a manner that two adjacent holes are tangential to a common horizontal line 23. A string 16 is threaded in the holes 22 as shown in Fig. 6 and the cards 2 are slid. under this string which holds them in position on the tablet 1. This method enables two adjacent cards to be placed close together and even in contact, the surface of the tablet being therefore utilized to its fullest extent for aflixing the cards. Each card 2 may be held in position by only two threads 16 but one or more supplementary strings 16 may be added either for better securing the card 2 or for providing subdivisions along the length of the card 2. In Fig. 6 each card is held in position by three threads 16 which have the effect of dividing it into two parts one of which may be used for example for inscribing a name and the other for inserting a number.

In Figs. 7 and 8 the tablets 17 18, 19, 20, 21 placed in the box 8 rest on the bottom of the box and are of equal length. The upper part of each of these tablets is cut away for a certain portion of its length so as to enable a part of the tablet placed behind it to be seen. The reference letters marked 011 each tablet may thus be placed on the part of the tablet which is visible when all the tablets rest on the bottom of the box. This arrangement enables both sides of the tablets to be conveniently used for inserting the cards, with the result that the number of cards contained in the apparatus may be doubled without increasing the volume thereof. In order that either the cards on the front or the cards at the back of the tablets may be consulted it is only necessary to turn the apparatus. The part of the tablets which remains visible when the tablets are inserted as far as possible in the box 8, as shown in Figs. 7 and 8 may be used both for the letters or reference numbers and for the devices for manipulating the tablets 1, that is to say a groove, button or other suitable device.

In all the arrangements described above it is also possible to use both sides of the tablets for holding the cards, the inspection of which may be rendered easier by inclining or turning the apparatus. To facilitate this the apparatus may be mounted on a pivotal support, so that it can be turned to consult either the front or back of the tablets. The external walls of the box 8 may be provided with fixed or movable plates, writing pads or any other object for noting information on. For this purpose they may be inclined to facilitate being written upon. They may also be furnished with a hook or any other suitable device for securing them to a desk with the same object. The box containing the movable tablets may be used for supporting telephone apparatus such as transmitters, receivers, calling apparatus, switches, indicating plates or other accessories. It may be itself supported by one or more of these devices or connected therewith in any other manner. It may carry a lighting device. In this way when the classifying index is used in connection with the telephone, such index and the telephone appa ratus to which it is an accessory, may be united into a single group.

I claim:

1. The combination of a case having the inner face of one of its walls provided with a projection; a plurality of individuallymovable juxtaposed tablets arranged within said case, the longitudinal edge of each tablet facing said wall being provided between the ends thereof with a shoulder adapted to engage said projection when that tablet is withdrawn from the case, to effect a bodily lateral movement of the tablet away from said projection; and means for normally forcing all of the tablets toward said projection.

2. The combination of a case having the inner face of one of its walls provided with a projection; a plurality of individuallymovable juxtaposed tablets arranged within said case, the longitudinal edge of each tablet facing said wall being provided between the ends thereof with a shoulder adapted to engage said projection when that tablet is withdrawn from the case, to effect a bodily lateral movement of the tablet away from said projection; and means disposed within said case and associated with all of said tablets for normally forcing the same toward said projection.

3. The combination of a case having the inner face of one of its walls provided with a projection; a pair of correspondinglygrooved cheek-pieces disposed within said case; a plurality of individually-movable juxtaposed tablets arranged within said case and having their longitudinal edges slidably fitted in the grooves in said cheekpieces, the longitudinal edge of each tablet facing said wall being provided between the ends thereof with a shoulder adapted to engage said projection, when that tablet is withdrawn from the case, to effect a bodily lateral movement of the tablet away from said projection; and means disposed within said case and associated with one of said cheek-pieces for normally forcing all of the tablets toward said projection.

4. The combination of a case having the inner face of one of its walls provided with a projection; a plurality of individuallymovable juxtaposed tablets arranged within said case, and having their longitudinal edges which face said projection tapered for co-action therewith, to effect a bodily lateral movement of a tablet away from said projection on being withdrawn from the case; and means for normally forcing all of the tablets toward said projection.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of two subscribing witnesses.

LOUIS ETIENNE FRANQOIS DAVID.

Witnesses:

H. G. Coxn, EMILE KLOTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. G. 

